By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Senior Reporter
THE NATIONAL Government’s (NG) budget surplus narrowed sharply in April to P31.4 billion amid muted revenue growth because the deadline for filing annual income tax returns was moved to May, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.
In an announcement on Tuesday, the Treasury said the April surplus was 53.29% lower compared with the P67.3-billion surplus a 12 months ago.
Month on month, the budget balance swung to a surplus from the P349.7-billion deficit in March.
“The turnout was underpinned by an 11.14% year-over-year increase in expenditures, which outpaced the modest 2.83% growth in government receipts because the deadline for the 2025 annual income tax returns (AITR) was prolonged from April 15 to May 15,” the BTr said.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. had prolonged the deadline by one month to provide taxpayers more time to file their tax returns amid the declaration of the state of national energy emergency.
BTr data showed total revenue collections increased by 2.83% to P536.8 billion in April from P522.1 billion in the identical month a 12 months ago.
Tax revenues, which accounted for the majority or 95.19% of total collections, rose by 2.62% to P511 billion in April from P498 billion in the identical month in 2025.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) collections inched up by 0.41% to P422.2 billion in April from P420.5 billion a 12 months ago, which was partly as a result of the extension of the filing and payment deadline for AITRs.
The Bureau of Customs’ (BoC) revenues jumped by 15.52% to P86.3 billion last month from P74.7 billion a 12 months earlier.
“BoC’s revenue performance was anchored by its strengthened valuation and monitoring systems and continued digitalization of customs processes, anchored by its Integrity, Accountability, and Modernization Program,” the BTr said.
Nontax revenues went up by 7.32% to P25.8 billion in April, as revenues from other offices jumped by 26.7% to P13 billion, which offset the 7.02% drop in BTr revenues to P12.9 billion.
The BTr attributed the rise in nontax revenues to the “P160 million in restitution funds recovered from flood control projects and P623.9 million in privatization proceeds.”
Meanwhile, NG expenditures went up by 11.14% to P505.4 billion in April from P454.8 billion in the identical month a 12 months ago.
The Treasury said the rise was as a result of the upper National Tax Allotment (NTA) of local government units (LGUs) and the Annual Block Grant to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
It also attributed the rise in expenditures to the “releases for the Local Government Support Fund and increased budgetary support for government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs).”
The Treasury said that the budgetary support includes the return of P60 billion in excess funds to Philippine Health Insurance Corp.
“Likewise, disbursements from the direct payments made by development partners to the suppliers or contractors of varied foreign-assisted railway projects of the Department of Transportation contributed to the upper April disbursements,” it added.
Primary expenditure (net of interest payments) went up by 8.22% to P441.9 billion in April from P408.3 billion in the identical month last 12 months.
Interest payments increased by 36.77% to P63.5 billion in April from P46.4 billion a 12 months ago as a result of “deficit spending and shifts within the timing of coupon payments.”
In April, NG recorded a primary surplus of P95 billion, narrowing by 16.51% from the P113.7-billion surplus a 12 months ago.
Marco Antonio C. Agonia, an economist on the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P), said that the narrower budget surplus in April is especially attributed to expenditure growth outpacing revenues.
“BTr data and release show that LGU allotments, NG subsidies, and interest payments materially increased on a yearly basis,” he told BusinessWorld via e-mail.
“On the revenue side, the expansion of BIR’s tax take slowed to a crawl after the April tax season was prolonged as a result of the continuing energy crisis,” he added.
China Banking Corp. Chief Economist Domini S. Velasquez said the April fiscal performance partly reflects “one-off aspects comparable to the extension of tax filing deadlines into May.”
“BoC collections remained strong, likely benefiting from higher oil prices and the weaker peso,” she said in a Viber message.
The peso closed at P61.485 per dollar on April 30, weakening by 73.7 centavos from its P60.748 finish on March 31.
“Meanwhile, spending growth was still largely driven by interest payments, indicating cautious disbursement activity,” said Ms. Velasquez. “Still, the slight pickup in April spending excluding interest payments could possibly be positive, especially if directed toward infrastructure, education, and health.”
FOUR-MONTH DEFICIT
Data from the Treasury also showed the fiscal gap narrowed by 14.44% to P324.1 billion within the January-to-April period from the P378.7-billion deficit last 12 months, amid a virtually 10% growth in overall collections and muted spending.
This represented 20.1% of the P1.61-trillion program approved by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) in its 192nd meeting in December.
For the four-month period, total revenue collections rose by 9.99% to P1.67 trillion from P1.52 trillion recorded in the identical period a 12 months ago. This made up 34.66% of the P4.82-trillion program for the 12 months.
As of end-April, tax revenues inched up by 3.54% to P1.48 trillion, as BIR collections went up by 2.74% to P1.14 trillion and Customs collections increased by 6.41% to P325.7 billion.
Nontax revenues surged by 111.59% to P192 billion as of end-April, as BTr income jumped by 209.34% to P142.8 billion and other offices’ income increased by 10.25% to P49.1 billion.
The Treasury said nontax revenues were lifted by “early dividend remittances from some GOCCs.”
For the four-month period, expenditures increased by 5.12% to P1.996 trillion from P1.89 trillion a 12 months ago. This was already 31% of the P6.43-trillion disbursement program based on the DBCC meeting in December.
The first budget balance swung to a surplus of P12.6 billion in the primary 4 months from a P91.3-billion primary deficit a 12 months earlier.
“The deficit slimmed (amid) NG infrastructure underspending in the primary quarter of 2026, together with base effects from last 12 months’s election season. But as we’ve seen from the primary quarter reading, underspending severely dents economic growth,” Mr. Agonia said.
“For now, we see economic headwinds from the Middle East war, especially with higher borrowing rates, closing the gap to last 12 months’s deficit in the approaching months. The return of NG infrastructure spending by the second half of the 12 months can also encourage larger fiscal deficits,” he added.
Government officials earlier said that they expect a pickup in spending amid agencies’ catch-up plans after the economy expanded by a slower-than-expected 2.8% in the primary quarter. This was below the federal government’s goal range of 5-6% for the 12 months.
Nevertheless, Mr. Agonia said that “the most recent budget turnout does give NG some respiratory room to begin spending, especially with around P1.3-trillion in programmed deficits left for the remainder of the 12 months.”
“The ball is now in NG’s court to mobilize public spending to rebuild economic momentum and weather the present energy crisis,” he added.
Ms. Velasquez said that the January-to-April performance shows the federal government has space to speed up spending while remaining inside fiscal targets.
“Faster rollout of priority programs and infrastructure projects could help support stronger economic growth within the second half of the 12 months, though additional nontax revenue sources should still be needed to maintain the deficit inside goal,” she added.